The New Day have been quite a revelation for the WWE. Originally a hokey babyface trio that had almost a gospel choir feel, the group went through a lengthy stint as heels that gradually developed a comic persona so strong a face turn became inevitable and logical.
But now the team is on its second run as tag champions – as they are so apt to remind us – and have held the belts for 243 days and counting during their current run. The question is: Will they keep them much longer? If not, the question becomes, how does that affect the WWE and the team itself?
They have to drop the belts
The fact is, the New Day has to lose the belts, and it probably needs to happen soon.
Now, this is not an insult to the trio. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Over the last eight months or so, the New Day has solidified itself as the clear top team in the WWE, even over recent division darlings the Usos and the legendary Dudley Boyz.
Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods have established themselves as the cream of the tag team crop by themselves in the WWE, and no other group has been able to match their blend of charisma on the microphone and skill in the ring.
But that is changing. With the entrance of Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, Enzo and Big Cass and the Vaudevillains alongside existing teams like the League of Nations and the aforementioned Dudleys and Usos, the division is very deep right now.
That also doesn’t include any iteration of the Wyatt Family or other teams that could come together. But it’s hard for those teams to really establish themselves if they’re all just taking turns losing to the New Day at pay-per-views.
And with the New Day almost 90 days from the record held by Paul London and Brian Kendrick and 331 days with the current belts and even further from the overall record, there’s no reason to keep the belts on them for that.
Effect on the WWE
The New Day dropping their belts, even to fellow babyfaces Enzo and Big Cass, would bring excitement to WWE’s tag team division, simply put.
Of course the fallen champions should get their rematch, but ideally, they’d lose there too, unless that rematch wasn’t granted for a little while. Perhaps, the New Day drop their titles to Enzo and Cass, and Gallows and Anderson interfere with the rematch, claiming that it’s their time now. That would set up a chaotic new scenario where Gallows and Anderson are demanding their chance at gold, making them enemies with both the current and past champions.
Add in other teams that would be earning championship matches and consideration, plus talent that will come up from NXT like The Revival and American Alpha, and there’s a solid rotation of potential champions like we haven’t seen in many years.
Effect on the New Day
Losing the belts is even better for the New Day, as odd as that may seem.
As is, it has been five years since a tag team won the current tag belts for a third time, and no team has ever held these WWE Tag Team Titles more than three times. Of course, other belts, which these replaced, have been held many more times than that, but that’s not really the point.
The point is that the WWE tag team scene has been devoid of those truly iconic teams like the Dudley Boyz, who won an older iteration of the WWE belts eight times, for years. While many of us will remember that the New Day was truly a special group, some may look back on their career as a team and only see a couple of title reigns.
Dropping the belts soon will open them up to pursue a big number of title reigns while also displaying their prowess in pursuit of gold. That could be another win-at-all-costs heel run or establish them as true heroes looking to right a wrong and conquer a heel team like Gallows and Anderson.
Dropping the tag titles would also allow members of the New Day to target singles gold without taking away from the tag division, which would display a different type of dominance for the group.
One trend to avoid
Despite any potential singles title pursuits, the WWE needs to avoid any temptation to break the group up. While it would be fun to see Kofi pick up the World Heavyweight Championship to complete his career grand slam or see Big E show his individual dominance in the title ranks, that shouldn’t come at the expense of a truly entertaining group.
For many people, the New Day is one of the most entertaining parts of WWE programming, with a brand of wit and humor that others struggle to achieve. The WWE has had a tendency to break up groups in an effort to avoid staleness in recent years, but that’s part of why the tag team ranks have become so thin. Imagine how big of a deal the tag team belts could be if the New Day was battling the Shield as serious contenders.
We’ve seen where Woods, Kofi and Big E can end up if left as individual performers, and truthfully, the singles ranks are deep enough now that at least two of them would get lost in the shuffle on their own. But as a group, they can be factors in almost any WWE division, and for that reason, they should be left to shine.
